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I was home with my first until 18 months, then he started at a 15 month + daycare / private preschool/kindergarten. With my second, she was with grandma full time until 6 months, then a nanny (it was a nanny share, she brought her daughter to our house every day) and then a different nanny (family member) when our nanny bailed on us, which took us to 15 months and then she started at our daycare. So right now they're both in a daycare center, but they were both at home until after they started walking (my preference).

@Mmsva: I couldn't find any in-home centers very close to our home with a spot for my son (I had kind of a tight timeframe to find childcare). There happened to be ONE spot at the daycare center, which ALWAYS has a wait list, so we toured it that same day and took the spot. Plus I liked that it was a center that doesn't have infants because it focuses a lot on education and development. It's NYAEC accredited so that was a huge draw for us.

We currently use — daycare center (they do daycare as well as a separate building/playground for preschool/kindergarten)

What I liked about:

Day Care Centers —
LIKES:
The multiple eyes on my child at all times. Personally I feel there is a level of accountability present in a daycare setting because it’s a full blown business w/ a director, owner, multiple employees that doesn’t exist in smaller home care.
Knowing that aside from holidays/weekends daycare is always open and available to us. A family/personal emergency of one teacher in a classroom just means a sub for the day not a shutdown of daycare.
The daycare center we chose has a large facility with multiple small play yards and a ton of room to play and explore. It also has a classroom like setting starting with kids at 18 months and this is something we liked. We already call daycare “school”… not in the OMG get into college already way but in that we were looking for structure, activities, learning & crafts and found it in a center.
We also wanted our son around a lot of children and a mixture of adults. We think it’s good for him to be in a classroom full of kids his age and not just one or two. He’s also very social and good with strangers even at his age (10.5 months) he hasn’t had any of the separation or stranger anxiety. Part of that is probably just luck with his personality but also he’s exposed to so many people every day… other teachers & multiple parents coming and going.

DISLIKES:
None really now that we found the right spot. However, during our search some of the negatives of places we didn’t choose included: lack of security over who comes & goes. Too much mixing of much older kids with babies. Small facilities.

In-Home Centers —

Even though we didn’t go with a small home daycare it was the way we thought we’d go when we started the search. We visited with people that we simply found on yelp as well as some who were recommendations of coworkers/friends.

LIKES:
Personal care. I didn’t think we would find the same kind of one on one attention that I thought a home daycare would provide. In the end we did – but I can see it not always being the case in larger facilities.
Flexibility. A few of the ladies we met were more flexible on drop off times and pick up times as far as emergencies that would cause us to work late or need to bring him extra early.

DISLIKES
Size – The personality of our LO was very clearly that of a social dude from early on. I could tell by the end of my maternity leave that he was getting bored just being with me at home or with one or two people all day every day. I worried that a home daycare wouldn’t be that different as being stuck at home with mom… even if there were a few other kids.
Security – I was hesitant with the idea that providers family members and their friends could come and go. I wouldn’t know who these people were.
A big worry for us was in home daycares often had 1 or 2 week vacations a year & what would we do for childcare then? Also – if something came up (sickness or family emergency) and our provider couldn’t care for our children.

We currently use— Daycare Center
It costs (if you feel comfortable)— $275/week (now that he's 2. It was &295/week as an infant/toddler)

We have used in the past— n/a

What I liked about:
Day Care Centers— always available, oversight/accountability, continuity of care (he can attend until he's school-aged), location was great for us
In-Home Centers— personalized care, smaller setting, less expensive

What I didn’t like about:
Day Care Centers— caregiver turn-over, less personal, expensive, larger group, more germ exposure
In-Home Centers— I had a bad experience once with an in-home provider so I'm not comfortable with the lack of oversight on a daily basis (basically I can't trust just one caregiver)

It was moot for us really because only one place was in the right location for my husband and I to both pick up/drop off. It's expensive but we love it and are just sucking it up until our son is in school. I loved the place so much that I quit my old job and teach preschool here now!

ETA: I have the same dislikes of in-home as @corderoy:

We currently use—day care centre
It costs (if you feel comfortable)—~1300-1500/month (depending on number of days)

We have used in the past—n/a
We changed because—n/a

What I liked about:

Day Care Centers—close to DH's work and home, recommendation from someone who's 2 kids went through the centre, exposure to more kids (social aspect), more activities, great facilities, great structure, caregiver will never call in sick (backups), province does routine inspections
In-Home Centers—less expensive, personalized care

What I didn’t like about:
Day Care Centers—lots of kids, less one-on-one time, more illness
In-Home Centers—if your caregiver is sick, you might have to scramble, further away from home, less oversight/regulations

DD is 27 months. She goes to a daycare center 3 days/week and my parents watch her 2 days. We've always done day care centers. To me (just my opinion) I'm more comfortable with a center than a home because I feel like it's more regulated, it seems more like a "school" setting where there is a curriculum. As a pediatric physical therapist I've visited some of my kiddos in home daycares and they just arent for me. Also, I can't take a week off when a home daycare shuts down for vacation or has last minute illnesses.

I don't remember the cost - maybe $650 ish for 3 full days including meals. When she was an infant it was maybe $1200 without milk/snacks.

We currently use: A church affiliated daycare center
It costs: $875/mo for an 18mo
What I liked about:

Day Care Centers: There is a "curriculum" and routine, it's not just play. Healthy meals, accomdation of allergies, background checks regularly, accountability to a director, grouped with children of similar age.
In-Home Centers: Flexible hours

What I didn’t like about:
Day Care Centers: Hours are not flexible. More kids=more potential illness.
In-Home Centers: Most here are all play, unhealthy food, mixed age, no accountability.

The honest reason we chose our daycare is because we got in. Wait lists in my city are two years minimum and when you get in you jump at the chance. Having said that, a center was my first choice because
- it doesn't shut down because the provider is sick/having surgery/going on vacation
- centers here are non-profit, community owned. I have the option of sitting on the board and I have a vote at the annual general meeting (so I have a say (in a sense) in how things are run)
- there are several workers in a room (more eyes for if an employee is doing something wrong/bad) and they are all Early Childhood Educators (meaning they have gone to school to be certified)
- I find centers to be more structured, which I like. I like that they have free play followed by story followed by outside time followed by lunch and so on. Home daycares can have this too, but it's not as common

We currently use— in home daycare
It costs (if you feel comfortable)— 500/month per kid

What I liked about: small atmosphere/amount of kids, lots of attention, close to work (especially when an infant), she feels like family

What I liked about:
Day Care Centers— the education/religious based setting, daily/weekly lesson plans

In Home- ultimately I wanted my daughter to have time to be a kid, I didn't want her to be "forced" to be in a school setting so young. She's smart and advanced without us "shoving" it down her throat. I wanted her to be a kid for awhile, I'm glad we chose this.

What I didn’t like about:
Day Care Centers— less personable, less one on one attention
In-Home Centers— I wish there was a few more educational projects and a better diet (lots of canned fruit/veggies instead of fresh and frozen food)

We currently use— an in-home daycare provider
It costs (if you feel comfortable)— $880/month for 4 days

We have used in the past— an aunt watched LO when I went back to work at 3 months and continued watching her until she was around a year old.
We changed because— As LO approached the 1 year mark, I thought it would be beneficial to have her get into a social setting with other children, etc.

What I liked about:

Day Care Centers— the curriculum and learing/projects, more accountability, usually better hours (open 12 hours instead of 8-10 like most home daycares), no vacations, usually open more days per year.
In-Home Centers— the "warm, family, homey" environment, having one sole caregiver, lots of one on one attention, less children/less chaotic, usually more flexible with pay and hours used, less illnesses.

What I didn’t like about:

Day Care Centers— felt more "cold" than the in-homes, higher teacher turnver, teachers are paid very little, felt too structured, more rules/less flexibility, too many children.
In-Home Centers— less accountability, less focused on curriculum/teaching (loved this when LO was younger, but now that she is almost 2, I am wanting more focus on learning/etc).

Originally we wanted and had our daughter in a *licensed* home day care (that lasted for 1 week). We liked the idea of home day care because it's smaller and felt she would get more one on on attention, less possibility for illness, and it was also much more affordable. We also liked that we could do part-time since I only work 3-4 days a week. Most big centers do not have part-time for infants.

We had a horrible experience with our home daycare provider (despite being really comfortable and confident in the arrangement when we interviewed and toured). I will probably never trust home daycare again though because of it.

We are in a small center now (infant room only has a max of 6 children) and I absolutely love it. Because it is smaller, it feels more "homier". The owners are super involved and sweet people, and many of the teachers have been there for 10+ years, which I think says a lot about the type of center it is. It is with every extra penny to feel like she is well taken care of. After our bad experience with home daycare, I am more comfortable in the fact that other teachers are around to observe and report what is going on.

As far as costs - our home daycare was $200/week for an infant. I have found home daycares in our area range from $150-$250/week. Our center is $325/week, which is on the inexpensive range in our area. Generally, centers here average $375-425/week for infants.